Ezekiel 20:1

And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. SEVENTH YEAR ... - namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (; ). This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently the hope of the restoration promised them in 70 years, for, when prospects are hopeless, years are not computed (Calvin). CERTAIN OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL CAME TO INQUIRE OF THE LORD. The object of their inquiry, as in , is not stated: probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national calamities, and the time of their termination, as their false prophets assured them of a speedy re...

Here he does not narrate a vision but an event which really happened. It is a simple historical narrative, that some of the elders of Israel were chosen to interrogate him. We know this to be customary, and when God separates His people from the profane nations, he opposes his prophets to the soothsayers and magi, augurs and astrologers. For he says that the Gentiles inquire what concerns them in various ways, and so interrogate their deities; but that he prescribes to the chosen people but one method: I will raise for them a prophet from the midst of their brethren, says Moses, (Deuteronomy 18:18;) that is, they need not wander about, like the wretched gentiles, destitute of counsel, first to their soothsayers, then to magi, and then to astrologers: there is no end to them’ but I will meet them, says he, by my prophets, who shall always exist among the people. In this sense Ezekiel says...

CHAPTER XX _A deputation of the elders of Israel, as usual, in their_ _distress, came to request Ezekiel to ask counsel of God_, 1. _In reply to this, God commands the prophet to put them in mind_ _of their rebellion and idolatry: In Egypt_, 2-9, _in the wilderness_, 10-27, _and in Canaan_, 28-32. _Notwithstanding which the Lord most graciously promises to_ _restore them to their own land, after they should be purged_ _from their dross_, 33-44. _The five last verses of this chapter ought to begin the next,_...

THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL - These were as in Ezekiel 14:1, some of Ezekiel’s fellow-exiles, designated in general terms by the name of Israel, though more properly belonging to the kingdom of Judah....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 20:1 A new date is given, and includes what follows to Ezekiel 23:49. The last note of time was in Ezekiel 8:1, and eleven months and five days had passed, during which the prophecies of the intervening chapters had been written or spoken. We may note further that it was two years one month and five days after the prophet's call to his work (Ezekiel 1:1.), and two years and five months before the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:1). The immediate occasion here, as in...

AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE SEVENTH YEAR,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and of the captivity of Jeconiah; from whence the dates of Ezekiel's visions and prophecies are taken, Ezekiel 1:2; two years, one month, and five days, after Ezekiel began to prophesy, and eleven months and five days after the preceding prophecy: IN THE FIFTH [MONTH], THE TENTH [DAY] OF THE MONTH; the month Ab, which answers to our July and August; on this day afterwards Jerusalem was twice destroyed, first by the Chaldeans, and then by the Romans: [THAT] CERTAIN OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL CAME TO INQUIRE OF THE LORD; by the prophet; these were either some of the elders that were carried captive, who came to inquire how long they should continue in this state; or what methods they should use to free themselves from it; or what they should do while they were in it; whether it would be advisable

FIFTH MONTH That is, August....

CHAPTER S 20-24 Further and Final Predictions Concerning the judgment of Jerusalem _ 1. Jehovah rehearses His mercies bestowed upon Israel (Ezekiel 20:1) _ 2. The impending judgment announced (Ezekiel 21:1) 3. Jerusalem's sins and whoredom (Ezekiel 22:1; Ezekiel 23:1) 4. The parable of the boiling pot and the last word (Ezekiel 24:1) Ezekiel 20:1. The chapter contains a divine retrospect and an arraignment of th

EZEKIEL 20. THE WICKED PAST AND THE BLESSED FUTURE. Ezekiel 20:1. A Sketch of Israel's Early Idolatries. It is now 590 B.C. Almost a year has elapsed since the last incident that was dated (Ezekiel 8:1): and as the doom draws nearer, the prophet grows fiercer. This lurid sketch of Israel's ancient sins, which partly recalls ch. 16, was occasioned by a visit of some elders (_cf. Ezekiel 8:1_, Ezekiel 14:1), who put to him a question which though not recorded, may perhaps be inferred from Ezekiel 20:32. It seems probable that, in disgust and despair,

THE SEVENTH YEAR. See the table on p. 1105. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah_, with _'eth_ (= Jehovah Himself). App-4....